Midnight Laughter
by Magiwren
Summary: When Simon wakes up to Baz's creepy laughter in the middle of the night, it's just the beginning of the mystery...
1. Chapter 1

_A/N - This is a weird little idea I came up with when I was about to go to sleep. Heh, stories really do come from anywhere and from anything._

* * *

Baz was doing it again.

The room was dark, only lit by the moonlight coming in through the window. Simon was propped up on his elbow, staring at Baz's laughing form.

It was their eighth year at Watford. There was still much to do before Simon was ready to face the Humdrum, but he wasn't thinking about that at the moment. And not just because it was the last thing he wanted to think about, anyway. He had other worries to think about.

He was staring across the room. This had been happening every night for about a week. Baz would start laughing in the middle of the night and wouldn't stop for hours. He wouldn't react when Simon called out to him and never gave a sign that it had been happening the next day. Simon had only questioned him about it once, but that had been enough to know that Baz had no idea what was going on. Or at least, was pretending not to.

Simon was on the verge of telling someone; it was getting worse and worse every night. He couldn't sleep at all and it was making him cranky and tired in the mornings. Penelope had already started to notice that something was wrong, and it wouldn't be long before somebody else did, too.

Baz was facing away from him, laughing hysterically. Simon could see him shaking as the laughter wracked his body. Finally he rolled over and continued laughing.

Simon hated it when he did that. Watching him in his fit was not pleasant. Baz's gray eyes were half open and glittering with tears forced out from his constant laughing. His mouth was open too, allowing those dreadful noises that made Simon's hair stand on end to erupt from him in a mad fit of laughter.

"Baz!" Simon hissed, trying to ignore the fear that was clawing through his skin and threatening to take over his voice. "Basilton!"

Baz didn't seem to hear. Just continued to laugh at something that didn't appear to exist. Was this some kind of joke? Was he trying to scare Simon for some reason? Well, it wasn't working. Simon would not- _could not_ -take this anymore.

He stood. "Baz!" he said louder. Still nothing. Not even a blink.

Simon crossed the dark room, flinching over almost everything he stepped on, even though almost all of it belonged to himself. Whatever, it wasn't because he was scared or spooked.

Yes. Simon did find Baz attractive and in any other setting he would have been uncomfortably turned on by Baz's laughter. He'd be all apple-red cheeks and darting blue eyes, while Baz probably would have laughed even harder at Simon's discomfort. It was just the way Baz worked.

When he got to Baz's bed he stopped. Baz hadn't done anything except continue his fit, eyes almost sparkling in the moonlight. He was grinning darkly, his white teeth showing. Was it just Simon, or were Baz's canine teeth disturbingly long?

Right. The whole vampire thing... Simon still wasn't used to that. How long would it take before he stopped being surprised by it?

" _Baz!_ " Simon shouted, making himself jump.

Baz suddenly stopped. The room was filled with an eerie silence.

"What... are you doing, Snow?"

Simon wanted to smack the boy in front of him. "Nothing," he muttered and turned to go back to his own bed.

Baz didn't ask again, and luckily, he didn't laugh anymore that night. Simon slept for a lot longer than he had in a week.

But should he tell someone?

# # #

Simon watched as Baz paused the buttoning of his shirt to quickly tie his purple and green tie. How did he do that? Simon could do it now without looking. But he still found it difficult and normally just looked in the mirror anyway to save time.

# # #

"Don't you think so, Simon?"

He looked up. Oh yeah, Chemistry was about to start. "Huh? Oh, yeah... sure.."

Penelope and Agatha both gave him an annoyed look. Simon had seen that look quite a bit lately. He still felt sleep deprived and couldn't seem to pay attention to anything.

"What's on your mind _now_ , Simon?" asked Agatha softly.

Simon avoided his girlfriend's gaze. Okay, she wasn't _technically_ his girlfriend yet, but it was close enough. They hung out a lot, and Simon had taken her on a few dates….

There had been a time when he had thought that Agatha was his destiny. Now… that kinda sounded ridiculous.

And there he was, getting side-tracked again.

At that moment, Baz and his cronies all came into the classroom. Baz said something to them before crossing the room to his seat next to Simon. Lately in Chem class, Simon was tempted to drip a bit of a melting potion on Baz. At least that would shut him up at night. Simon _needed_ his sleep, no matter how hot Baz was at times.

"Hey," Simon mumbled, avoiding Baz's gaze.

Baz glanced up at him, unpacking books from inside his bag. "Yeah... Hi."

Simon nodded and narrowed his eyes at the chemistry set in front of them. Having Baz as a lab partner wasn't easy. Baz wasn't the nicest person in the world when it came to being slow out of exhaustion.

When it came to Baz, everything was difficult.

A few moments later Professor Chilblains walked into the room and took his seat at the front of the room.

He started his opening talk. Something about how wonderful it was to see all the young people in his class that morning. Simon didn't believe one word of it but he decided not to give a snide comment today. He just wanted it to be over.

His eyes were _so_ heavy, it almost hurt. If he had to face the Humdrum like this he was _going_ to lose. Baz would have to do it instead, and he knew how _that_ would turn out.

 _Baz: "Hullo, ice cream sundae! Prepare to meet your doom!"_

 _Humdrum: "How dare you!"_

 _Boom! Boom! Boom! Baz dies. The Humdrum wins. And ice cream gets banished from the world. Yay Baz!_

Simon jolted out of his thoughts as Baz sniffed out of boredom. Okay, that was it. Simon needed sleep soon. Like, _real_ sleep. Like, for an entire night.

"Now class," the Professor began. "Today we will be-"

A giggle echoed around the room and Simon blinked in surprise when he realized it had been Penelope! Had the teacher mispronounced something and she thought it was funny? Had he said something false? The class hadn't even started yet. Had Agatha said something funny? Why on earth would she be listening to anyone besides Professor Chilblains? Penelope loved this teacher.

Professor Chilblains looked at her in surprise. "Is... something amusing, Miss Bunce?"

Instead of answering, Penelope started to laugh harder. The intense giggling shook her shoulders and made her face go as red as her hair.

"Penny?" Agatha asked.

Suddenly, Simon froze as he heard Baz start to snort with laughter as well, covering his mouth and closing his eyes. He was joined by Malcolm, Niall, Rhys, Lucinda, and many others in the class.

Dev looked at his friends. "What's so funny?" he demanded, but was ignored by the others as they began to laugh harder and harder.

Ralph and Elspeth both looked at Simon at the same time. "What's going-"

Simon stood and started to back toward the door. Something was wrong. He needed to get out of there.

He reached the door and grabbed the handle, turning it and swinging it open.

Laughter echoed through the halls, eighth year students in the halls and in other classrooms were laughing uncontrollably, while the other students and the professors appeared to be on the verge of panic.

Simon stumbled back. This had to be a nightmare, there was no other option. This couldn't be happening. He was losing his mind. Hadn't _Baz_ been bad enough?!

"Everyone out," said the Professor. "Where's the Mage?!"

###

The hall was normally filled with tables and chairs, food and students, talking and chatter. Now it was empty and the room was silent. The only sounds were the distant laughter that drifted in through the closed doors.

The Mage had called everyone that wasn't in a laughing fit to the dining hall. Now they were all seated in the middle of the room. Barely daring to breath. Listening to the sounds outside.

Finally, the silence was broken by Professor Glyph, the history teacher.

"What in Crowley's name is going on here?" she demanded, her usual low drawl was gone, replaced by a high shriek that made everyone jump.

The Mage sat there for a moment. Stroking his short beard, his small eyes narrowed at the bolted doors.

"It appears," he began slowly, "that something has gone terribly wrong."

"I think we've figured that much out!" snapped Professor Somnia, teacher of the Dream Reading class. "But how in blazes did it happen?!"

"I think," growled Professor Psych, he taught the Arts of Dark Magicks class, and liked to show it in his deep voice. "That if the eighth year students can't even manage to keep a giggling hex away, then they clearly aren't ready to be done with school."

"We have a catastrophe on our hands!" shrieked Professor Glyph. "And you're mumbling about their grades! Have a heart, man. For all I know, you did this."

Professor Psych straightened in his chair and glared across at the old woman. "Madam, I assure you that I did not do this... most horrible crime. It may even have been you!"

Simon watched the two bicker, Professor Somnia would try and get them to stop but his attempts were feeble. Most of his tiredness had disappeared and been replaced with panic. But it was still there and he was starting to drift.

Professor Somnia was very mouse-like in some ways. He had a thin layer of snow white hair on his head, and a thin voice that squeaked at the end of sentences. When Simon had first met the Dream Reading teacher, he'd thought he might scare the little man away if he moved too fast.

Professor Glyph reminded Simon of a vulture. She had a long, crooked nose, a long neck which she held forward most of the time, as if her head were weighing it down, white hair that she usually wore in a bun on the top of her head, and a pair of those glasses with those long gold strings leading behind her ears that sat on the end of her nose. Simon didn't know how she could stand that, whenever he tried on Penelope's glasses and let them slide to the end of _his_ nose, it always bugged the crap out of him.

Professor Psych was more like... a goose. He was a tall man with black hair and piercing, dark blue eyes. He always stood over people in this looming way, with his neck going up and his head tilting down. Normally he had a look of sharp disapproval on his face that gave him the look of a goose.

Finally, Professor Somnia shouted. "Well, how about we ask the Mage about what he thinks is going on!"

His high pitched voice echoed around the room a few times before Glyph and Psych finally stopped arguing.

There was silence in the room.

"Maybe it was all just some practical joke?" Agatha tried. "They were teasing us."

Simon and Elspeth shook their heads at the same time.

"Lucinda and Penny wouldn't do something like that," said Elspeth. "And why would they only do half the school?"

"It was just a thought," Agatha snapped.

Ralph sighed and looked at Simon. "You seemed more scared than surprised that it was happening. Know anything about this?"

Simon bit his lip. "No. All I know is that Baz has been laughing in his sleep for about a week now." He looked back at the Mage, hoping to get a reaction from him.

The Mage, however, said nothing. Instead, he blinked slowly at the doors, as if trying to sort something out in his head. Simon had worn the same expression many times.

"I sense trouble," he said at last, straightening up in his chair and lacing his fingers together under his chin. "It's possible that we are about to be attacked, and with half the school in a laughing fit..." He trailed off.

"Attacked by what?" Simon demanded. "The Humdrum?"

"Vampires?" asked Ralph.

The Mage shook his head slowly. "Vampires don't work like this. This is something unlike anything we've dealt with before."

The room went silent again. Every noise that was made came bouncing off the walls in an explosion of noise. Simon seemed to be having a hard time breathing, his heart was pounding in his chest. He was surprised that they couldn't hear it.

But they couldn't hear anything, it was so quiet. Too quiet.

Slowly, they all turned to look at the doors. The sound of students laughing had been replaced with silence. Leaving a cold feeling hanging in the air.

"They stopped," whispered Agatha. "Do you think-"

Before she could finish, Ralph stood. "I'll go check it out."

The Mage looked at him. "Be careful."

Ralph gave him a weird look but nodded and crossed the room to the doors. There was a pause, then he grabbed the handle and slowly pushed the door open.

He stuck his head out and looked around, then he took a step outside, one hand on the door handle, and continued to gaze around.

"I don't think-" Suddenly he screamed and was wrenched outside. There was a terrible, crunching noise as he tried to keep hold of the door, but whatever had grabbed him was insanely strong and he lost his grip, possibly breaking his wrist.

"Ralph!" Simon jumped up and raced to the doorway, sticking his head out and looking around wildly.

The hall was empty. There was no sign of any struggle or even a shadow coming from around the corner. The hall was completely abandoned. No sign of life, or anything. Only the smell of something like animal.

"Simon." The Mage's voice had a warning in it. "Close the door and lock it."

Simon hesitated, but did as he was told and turned to face the Mage.

"Well?" he growled. "You're just gonna let him go?!"

The Mage closed his eyes. "Simon, listen... I need to-"

 _"Simon..."_

Everyone froze.

 _"Simon..."_

The voice was familiar but different, calling Simon toward it. It sounded close, yet far... so welcoming.

The Mage was saying something to him but Simon couldn't hear him. Why was that voice so... What was the word? That voice was calling his name, stretching it out to make it sound sexy and almost... _mouthwatering?_.. That just sounded weird. More like… appetizing on the person's tongue... whoever it was.

Who was he kidding? Simon knew exactly who was calling to him. It didn't sound the same but he still knew that voice, of course he knew that voice. How could he not?

After all, he and Baz spoke to each other every day... Even if it was barely a word.

But it wasn't very often that Baz called him _Simon_. He knew that it was trap, he really did.. but why was it so. Utterly. Painful. To just sit there and listen to it. He needed to go to the voice. To find Baz and... and what? Force him to shut up? Shove him up against the wall and-

Whoa! Where were those thoughts coming from? Something about that voice was doing this to him. That was it. Those... images weren't really his... were they?

"Simon!" Agatha shouted. "What are you doing?!"

He had opened the door, just the tiniest bit, but that was enough to let that voice float into the room, sending it bouncing off the walls over, and over, and over again. Simon felt almost drunk with the noise.

 _"Simon..."_

He was about to close the door again when it lowered to a whisper that made his neck prickle, and his hair stand on end.

 _"Simon... Simon... Come on, Simon... Come to me..."_ It was barely a hiss in his head.

 _Yes!_ Was all he could think. He needed-desperately needed to go to that voice. Right. Now.

"Simon, NO!"

He heard them yelling behind him as he jumped into the hall and slammed the door behind him.


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: And here is the next chapter! Yay! I'm going to be putting a chapter up every other day or so. Thank you all for your awesome reviews!_

* * *

Simon was stumbling through the hall. He couldn't see clearly. Why were the walls moving? The only thing he could hear clearly was that voice.

 _"Simon..."_

 _I'm coming,_ he thought. The voice was getting louder. It drowned out all other sounds and made Simon's head hurt from the concentration he had to put into his ability to stay standing.

He rounded a corner and stopped, gripping the wall to stay on his feet. There he was.

Baz was leaning against the wall, playing with his nails, his mouth barely moving as he made those long, low noises that formed into Simon's name and wound their way around his better judgement, drowning his inside voices out and telling him to do their bidding.

In this case, leaving safety, and coming to look for Baz.

 _"Well, I'm here. What do you want?"_ is what he wanted to say but in that moment his legs couldn't hold him up anymore and he fell. His vision went black.

# # #

Simon's eyes blinked open and he gasped.

He felt better. His eyesight was clearer and he could hear everything normally again. The sound of his name being called had ceased. But that was mostly because Baz's mouth was twisted in an evil smirk as it hovered inches over Simon's own.

Simon was dimly aware of lying on something soft, he must have been moved from the floor. But he couldn't tell what room he was in just by staring at the ceiling.

Baz was sitting on top of him. Straddling his hips and grinning down at him with pointed teeth, black eyebrows arched in that way they always did when one of his plans was going well. His gray eyes were sparkling with excitement. Simon's face flared with heat at the sight... Wait a second….

 _Nope. Nope. Nope._ He was _not_ getting hard over this. Definitely not. _No way_. There was no way in the gods' names that he was getting hard over this.

Baz licked his lips. "So glad you decided to wake up. We both would have been bored if you hadn't."

For a moment, Simon thought that might have meant that they weren't alone. But when he looked around nobody else was in the room with them. It also made it clear where he was.

How. The _hell_ \- Simon normally wasn't one to swear, not even in his head. But this was an exception - did Baz get him into their room and onto Baz's bed?

And _good crap_ , what were they doing there.

"Get off me!" Simon snarled. That only made Baz's grin grow.

"Something wrong, Simon?" Simon's name rolled off of Baz's tongue lazily, in a way that made Simon have to repeat his argument of _not-becoming-hard_ in his head.

It wasn't working.

His mouth was dry and he had to remind himself that Baz wasn't Baz at the moment. He wasn't really doing this. So, he needed to calm down.

Simon opened his mouth to give an angry reply, but Baz lunged down at the same time and started sucking on Simon's neck fiercely.

 _No!_ He told himself. _You aren't enjoying that... that thing that Baz is doing!_

The loud groan that escaped his mouth said otherwise.

"No..." he choked out and glared at Baz. "Stop!"

For a moment, Baz paused. Sitting up and narrowing his eyes. Maybe he was realizing that this wasn't how he should be acting.

"Calm down, Simon," he hissed quietly, bringing his hand up and rubbing Simon's shoulder softly. "It's not like I'm doing some of the things that I could be doing to you."

"I'm aware," snapped Simon. "That doesn't change anything-"

He was cut off as Baz bent down and attached his mouth to Simon's neck again. _Crap_. This wasn't good. Not only because, well, it was _happening_ , but because he was totally enjoying it. And if he made any more of those noises he'd…. He didn't even know! It was just bad! Very. Very. Bad. Bad. Bad.

Simon felt like an idiot. He should have been fighting harder, he knew that. But... it felt so _good_. It only got better because it was _Baz_ who was doing it.

Crowley. Simon had known that he was attracted to Baz but he hadn't known it was _this bad._

Suddenly, Baz sat up and he stumbled backward, clutching at his head. Whimpering and laughing. He hit the wall opposite them and arched against it in pain, he dropped to the floor and let out a loud groan of agony.

Simon almost hesitated. But shook his head and bolted for the door. He had to get out. When he reached the door he heard a choked noise from behind him and he glanced over his shoulder.

Baz was lying on the floor, one arm outstretched dramatically. His gray eyes were glazed over in pain and his mouth was hanging open and panting.

"Run..." he gasped as his nails began to grow into claws, Simon could have sworn he saw Baz's skin darken with a thin layer of... _fur?_

Then his words sunk in. _Run..._ Oh crap! Simon threw the door open and raced down the hall. Behind him, he heard Baz cry out at the same time as he burst into a fit of mad laughter.

 _"Figure it out, Snow! You're supposed to be the Mage's heir here!"_ Simon didn't know what that meant, but he wasn't about to find out. He whirled around the corner and shrieked in surprise as he came face to face with Malcolm, one of Baz's _friends_.

Something was wrong with him, he was holding his head at an odd angle and his shoulders were hunched in an animal-like way.

Simon took a step backward and ran in the other direction. He could hear feet pounding after him and fear and panic shot through him. He was pretty sure that he screamed, but he was too terrified to be embarrassed about it.

He risked a glance behind him when he heard a snarl.

Malcolm and Baz had crossed paths. They were glaring at each other, looking ready to fight.

Baz looked like Elspeth! His skin had a thin layer of black fur, his ears were almost bat-like. Simon could see that he had claws and longer teeth. Baz was standing like a raptor, bent over, with his arms raised up. He looked like some kind of-

Baz let out an inhuman cackle and something clicked in Simon's head.

Hyenas.

Half of the school was turning into hyenas!

And they'd _eaten_ Ralph!

Simon whirled around and darted away. This was bad. Why had it happened? What on earth could possibly have done this? And why hyenas? They lived in Africa!

Another outbreak of inhuman laughter sent Simon off with a new burst of speed.

Suddenly, he slammed into something and fell to the ground. He looked up, terror alight on his face.

"Elspeth? Agatha?" His eyes traveled to the left. "Dev?"

They helped him up. Simon would have demanded what they were doing there, but he was busy glancing around and getting ready to bolt at the slightest hint of movement.

"We followed you," said Agatha. "What are you running from?"

Simon didn't answer. He hugged Agatha and quickly kissed her forehead. That was boyfriend-like, right? Certainly not _Baz's_ idea of boyfriend-like, but at the moment, Baz was busy trying to rip Malcolm apart while turning into a wild animal, so Simon wasn't sure that Baz was a very good role model, right now.

"Listen," he began. "I'm glad you're safe but-"

"Basil?" Dev gasped. "What-?"

Simon spun around. Baz had come around the corner. He was all scratched up from his meeting with Malcolm. Claws raised and fangs bared. Simon could see spots.. or… maybe stripes, forming on his dark fur.

And then he changed.

Baz had always been taller than Simon, it was just the way things were. Always just a few inches higher... Those few inches always taunted Simon. Always left him hating the fact that Baz could loom over him like a... well... like a vampire..

Now his head only reached up to Simon's stomach. His ears were pointed, his body covered in dark brown, striped fur. He had fangs and claws. Simon could see lots of muscle going on under that thick pelt, those shoulders looked powerful. Baz's jaws were open, letting out a low snarl as drool dripped out from between his teeth... those dark gray eyes narrowed to slits.

Holy crap, was Simon _ogling_ Baz as a _hyena_? He needed serious help.

The only things that were still the same about Baz were his gray eyes and those markings on his head that made a widow's peak shape.

Elspeth gasped. "Striped hyena!"

"What the hell just happened to him?" Dev gasped.

Agatha smacked him on the arm, making him glare at her and rub his arm. "Language."

"Shut up and run!" yelled Elspeth as Baz lunged toward them.

Simon was pretty sure that they all screamed at the same time as he whirled around and bolted. Nothing had scared him so bad in his life. Wasn't he supposed to be a monster hunter? _Toughen up, Simon!_

Suddenly, there was a shriek of fear and Simon spun back around to see that Agatha was pinned to the floor with Baz standing over her. His eyes narrowed, lips drawn back in a snarl, hackles raised up, shoulders tense as his fur spiked up in aggression. Saliva dripping from his snarling jaws.

"Help!" Agatha screamed. "He's gonna kill me!"

" _Baz!_ "

The word was out of his mouth before he could stop it. It certainly worked at getting his attention. Baz leaped at him. Bowling him over and slamming him against the hard floor.

Simon thought he might pass out when he hit his head. Everything started spinning for a moment and he groaned with pain. Then he remembered what was happening and locked eyes with the snarling Baz above him.

Baz was still in there. Simon could see it. He could feel Baz's hot, wet breath on his face. Could see the hint of pain in his gray eyes.

A burst of strange noises made Baz raise his head. Ears up. Eyes bright and excited.

Suddenly, Elspeth ran by, mouth open as she let out a bunch of weird barking noises. Baz bounded after her-he appeared to be bouncing in excitement.

"What did you-" Simon started, stumbling to his feet.

"Just get out of here!" Elspeth called over her shoulder and ran around the corner with Baz at her heels, laughing and letting out a long strangled noise that Simon had never heard before.

Agatha was pulling on his arm. "Simon, come on! We've got to get back to the Mage."

Simon hesitated. "But..."

"What?" Agatha forced him to look at her. "Simon, Elspeth will be fine. She won't let Baz hurt her."

 _But what if-_

His thought hadn't even finished when more hyenas ran around the corner. These ones were spotted, like the ones you'd see in _The Lion King._ All of them were spotted. That was weird. Was Baz the only striped hyena in the school?

The biggest one was definitely Malcolm, that was no surprise, he was huge as a human, too. Simon also saw a hyena with reddish fur, Penelope? And saw that one seemed to have a problem walking.

"Oh, poor Rhys!" gasped Agatha and then seemed to see that Malcolm and the rest of Baz's cronies besides Dev, who was still human, were moving forward.

Simon, Agatha, and Dev raced down the hall. Simon could hear snapping jaws behind him and whimpered.

They were in a heap of trouble, now.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Hope you enjoyed the last two chapters... otherwise... (sigh) Why are you still reading? Don't read something you are not enjoying!... But, if you _are_ liking it then YAY! Thanks for all the reviews, keep em coming.

* * *

The shrieks and cackles of hyenas were getting closer and Simon was getting tired. Suddenly, the dining hall seemed very far away.

"Where is Elspeth?" he gasped, glancing over his shoulder. The hyenas were _right there._ He was surprised that they had made it as far as they had; unless the hyenas were playing with them, they should have been caught by now. Maybe they weren't used to their hyena forms yet?

 _Unless the hyenas were playing with them..._

Agatha was whimpering. "We're gonna get eaten, just like Ralph!"

Dev choked at the thought. "I'm too young to die!"

"Shut up!" Simon shouted, turning a corner. "Both of you! We are not gonna die. Are we magicians or aren't we!? We'll figure something out!"

Almost as soon as the words were out of his mouth, Elspeth ran around the corner in front of them. She yelped when she saw what was behind them and started running along beside Simon as they passed her.

"Took a shortcut," she panted. "Plan didn't work like I thought it would."

"What does that mean?!" Simon yelled at her, his voice going an octave higher.

A snarl sounded behind them, a very familiar snarl. Simon glanced back and saw that Baz was back, in the lead, and gaining speed. Clearly, if the others weren't, he really _was_ trying to catch them.

 _Crap,_ thought Simon. _Vampire speed, hyena speed, and normal human speed, all mixed together! CRAP! We are so screwed..._

"It means, I didn't lose him," Elspeth snapped back and let out an excited noise as the doors to the main hall came into view.

Something hit Simon in the back so hard that he fell forward with a yelp. Simon was pretty sure that if he fell one more time, his skull would split open on the floor. He barely caught himself and flipped over to see Baz, standing a few feet away.

Simon scrambled backward as the gray-eyed hyena took a step forward. He could hear Elspeth telling the others to go on as she started running back for him. Well, at least _someone_ cared.

Penelope was coming up behind Baz, her fur spiked up, head low, brown eyes narrowed darkly. Baz's ears pricked up when he heard her growl.

He turned to look at her. Penelope paused in front of him, her tail went up and she suddenly swiped Baz across the face with one large paw. He yelped as she knocked him over and shoved him away. His face was bleeding with four long slashes across the muzzle.

Elspeth grabbed Simon's arm and yanked him to his feet. "Listen," she grumbled as they started to run again. "Would you rather get out of here, or stare at Baz all day."

"Why'd Penny do that?" Simon gasped.

"She's a female hyena. Females are always more dominant."

Simon shot her a glance and she rolled her eyes.

"What? I'm not allowed to know things? Is that only Penelope?"

Agatha and Dev were waiting by the doors, they yanked them open as Elspeth and Simon got near enough and slipped inside. Just before he rushed inside, Simon glanced back and saw hyenas gathering around the place where Baz was lying.

He made a frustrated noise in his throat and raised his wand.

" _Stand clear_!" he shouted and the hyenas were blasted backwards away from Baz, who was lying on the ground in a ball.

"Simon!" He was yanked inside the dining hall and almost fell again.

After the door was closed and locked again Simon leaned against the wall and sighed. The Mage, teachers, and a bunch of kids were inside. Fussing over Agatha, Dev, and Elspeth. Asking them questions, listening to their stories, making over-dramatic faces.

Hmm... That was weird. This whole hyena thing seemed to only be happening to the eighth years... Literally everyone else in the school was fine. And... only one kid out of every room seemed to be turning into a hyena.

The Mage was talking to him. The entire room had gone quiet and Simon wasn't even listening. He shook his head and looked at the Mage again.

"Sorry, what?"

"Did you find anything out there?" the Mage repeated. "Who was calling you?"

Simon's mouth went dry at the memory. "Um... Well-"

 _WHAM!_

Simon whipped around as the door was knocked over. Baz's striped form was standing on top of it. Shoulders hunched and head dipped low, ears flat to his head. His dark eyes found Simon and he started forward.

Panic and fear was all Simon could think about, all he could picture was Baz ripping him apart. He stumbled back and Baz let out a high laugh.

"Why," Simon panted, holding his hands out in front of himself protectively, "are you following me, Baz!?"

"That's Baz?" he heard someone gasp.

The hyena suddenly stopped and let out a low whine. Crouching down and giving Simon the biggest puppy-dog eyes he'd ever seen.

For a moment, there was silence. Then Baz made a dark noise in his throat and stood, taking a threatening step forward.

He snarled, letting out a high pitched laugh that made Simon swallow nervously. What was Baz _doing_? Why didn't he just attack already?.

As if that thought were all he had needed, Baz lunged forward and Simon yelped as he was knocked to the ground. He grabbed Baz's throat and tried to hold him back as the large hyena snapped at his throat.

He could see a light in Baz's eyes. Hunger. Simon let out a yell as Baz snapped at him again.

"Agatha!" he screamed. " _Don't drive while drunk!_ Do it! NOW!"

"Oh!" Agatha brought out her mirror and murmured the words under her breath.

Baz stopped and shook his head, he stumbled away, ears flat to his head he lost his balance and fell to the ground, laughing.

Baz jumped to his feet and snarled at Professor Psych, he appeared to be in some sort of frenzy. He jumped around and snapped at Simon before whirling around again and charging out of the room.

"What's wrong with him?" demanded Dev. "That's not like Basil at all! What's going on here!?"

Professor Psych burst out laughing as if something were funny. Simon looked at him in horror. Not the professor!

But Professor Psych stayed perfectly human, and even calmed after a moment. Saying something under his breath and repairing the door to it's normal stage.

Professor Glyph shook her head in disapproval. "I knew it. I _knew_ it. Shawn, out of all the stupid things you've done to test the eighth years, this is the _most_ horrible!"

"Yes, I know." Professor Psych wiped his eyes. "But Crowley, it was worth it!"

Simon looked in between the two teachers. And then it all clicked.

Every year, Professor Psych would somehow test the eighth years to see if they had paid attention in his class. He wouldn't tell anyone when or how he was going to do it. One day, something would happen to the eighth years and they'd have to reverse the hex by using the counter curse.

When Simon had learned this, he thought it all had to be some kind of joke. It was just ridiculous that a man named Psych would play tricks on people.

And Simon had forgotten about it! Even though it was his eighth year!

"Professor Psych," sighed the Mage. "Did you really have to go to such extremes?"

"I admit," said Psych, "I haven't really ever tried anything like thing before, and it's a bit more risky. But it's the Mage's Heir's eighth year! I thought 'What the heck? He needs a challenge!' And it worked!"

Simon had never seen the professor so excited before and couldn't help but be slightly relieved that it wasn't anything worse.

"Psych!" giggled Professor Psych. "Gotcha! Haha! I am relieved that I decided to turn Miss Bunce into a hyena. You all would have figured it out by now, if I hadn't."

Professor Somnia and Professor Chilblains both sighed and shook their heads while Professor Glyph slapped Psych on the arm.

"You scared those poor children half to death, you beast!" she screeched at him and he tried to duck out of her reach. Unsuccessful. Professor Glyph wasn't having it.

Simon loved that teacher. He wanted to strangle Professor Psych himself.

"Well," he growled. "What's the counter curse?"

Professor Psych fixed him with one of his goose-like, disapproving glares. "Figure that out on your own. My rules still go, even if I couldn't keep my mouth shut this time. And I'd hurry if I were you. If you don't reverse the spell before nightfall the rest of you eighth years will slowly start turning into zebras."

"Zebras?!" gasped Agatha. "But... hyenas _eat_ those!"

"Exactly, my dear."

Simon was flabbergasted. "You're insane!"

"I think you'll find that sanity isn't much different than insanity," Professor Psych tutted. "Oh! Speaking of sanity. Your hyena friends will be losing more and more of theirs the longer you take. So..." He shrugged.

"Wait," said SImon. "Why did Baz start laughing in his sleep, before you were even gonna turn them into hyenas?"

"Well, I had to test on _somebody_ ," sighed Professor Psych. "So I thought 'Why not Snow's roommate, that'll give him some excitement to think about.'"

 _Sucks to be me,_ Simon thought angrily.

Dev started to whimper. Simon wanted to beat his head against the wall and force himself to remember the counterspell.

When did they even have this lesson? Simon couldn't remember. All the could think about was the sound of his pounding heart and bodies slamming into the door outside. The knowledge that he was about to turn into a zebra. All he could focus on was the thought of Baz tearing him apart with neither of them being able to do anything about it.

The door was flung open. At the same time, Professor Psych cast a shield spell around the teachers and the other kids in the room. It was only the eighth years and the eighth year hyenas now.

Penelope was in the lead. She snarled at anybody who tried to pass her and laughed at everything else.

Simon stumbled back as hyena after hyena fought their way inside. They were about to get eaten like Ralph. He was sure of it. Baz and Malcolm started fighting again. Batting at each other with their paws and snapping at each other with their fangs. Tearing each others ears, muzzles, feet, tails...

The entire room was filled with the horrible sound of that shrieking laughter. It was echoing off the walls and bounced back around the room, so that one laugh sounded like ten different ones.

Penelope leaped after Agatha and Dev. Snapping her jaws at them and cackling.

Simon pressed up against the wall as Baz jumped away from Malcolm and started stalking towards Simon. His gray eyes glittering, teeth bared.

Simon swallowed loudly. But he couldn't hear it. All he could hear was laughter.

Laughter.

 _Laughter!_

Simon jumped up and pulled out his wand, waving it around. Baz sprung forward, jaws snapping.

" _LAUGHTER IS THE BEST MEDICINE_!" he screamed over the noise.

Baz slammed into him, knocking the breath out of Simon and sending them both tumbling to the ground.

For a second, Simon's eyes wouldn't focus on anything, so he closed them for a moment and waited for the dizziness to stop.

"Oh gods."

He cracked an eye open and saw Baz-pale, cold, snotty, vampire, normal Baz-on all fours, standing over him. He was rolling his eyes, as if he couldn't believe that Simon would have the nerve to reverse the spell just as Baz was about to kill him.

Simon couldn't stop the enormous grin from spreading across his face. It had worked!

Baz got to his feet and helped Simon up as well. The room was filled with stumbling students that had recently been turned into hyenas. Penelope was getting up and apologizing over and over again to Agatha and Dev. Agatha just hugged her.

"I _knew_ it was Professor Psych," Penny said. "As soon as I started to giggle in class, I knew it was him."

Agatha just laughed with relief. A human laugh, thank Merlin.

Baz was starting to sway slightly and Simon looked at him.

"You okay?"

Baz nodded. "Yeah... I'm fine. I think I'm gonna go lie down, though." He turned and hurried out of the room. Simon thought he had walked a little too fast.

The teachers started clapping.

"Well done, Simon Snow," said Professor Psych. "I was starting to wonder who was going to figure it out."

Simon rounded on him. "We could have been killed!" he spat.

The professor waved his hand dismissively. "Nonsense!" he laughed. "The boys and girls that were turned into hyenas were all incapable of doing something they did not want to do. No one was eaten. Everything that happened today was something that they had no problem doing!"

Simon's jaw dropped. "But... Ralph-"

"Is perfectly fine," Professor Psych said cheerfully. "Maybe a bit traumatized at the moment, but nothing a calming spell won't fix."

"So... we wouldn't have been eaten?"

"Well... if you had waited to become a zebra that would have been a whole different problem. You see, the students don't want to eat people, but they wouldn't have had any problem eating something that looks like an ordinary meal to them... anyways, it all worked out fine." Professor Psych patted Simon's shoulder.

"But… they've been chasing us around the school-"

"They probably enjoyed the look of horror on your faces. And they didn't have _complete_ control. Some part of them probably had an _urge_ to kill you, but most of them didn't."

Across the room, Professor Glyph was talking to some of the eighth years. Patting them on the shoulders and telling them about what had happened.

"Really no need for that," Psych sniffed. "They can remember everything that happened."

Suddenly, Simon remembered something.

"Wait," he began. "So, you're saying... That they couldn't do anything they wouldn't have wanted to do as a human?"

"Correct!" said the professor. "Brilliant, isn't it?"

Simon nodded distractedly. "Um yeah... Listen, I have to go. See you later."

"Where are you going?" asked Professor Psych.

Simon didn't answer right away as he headed toward the doors.

"I'm going to have a chat with Baz," he murmured.

* * *

 _A/N: Hey, sorry that this story is so short. There are only two more chapters left to do, but I'm working on more fanfiction stories so you will have more to read I'll fill you in on more later. One of my other Simon Snow fanfictions should be ready to start posting by the time this story is done. Thank you all for reading and please review if you have the time._


	4. Chapter 4

_A/N: Hey! Second to last chapter! I'm a little sad... I've really enjoyed writing this. My next Simon Snow story is almost ready to post, just re-reading what I've got done so far and fixing mistakes. Hope you all enjoy the chapter and please review if you have the time._

* * *

Simon burst into their room-nice and dramatic-and slammed the door behind him.

Across the room, Baz was sitting on his bed. Facing away, and fiddling with something in his hands.

He paused to comment. "No one likes a door-slammer, Snow."

 _Look who's talking,_ Simon thought darkly. _You do it often enough._

"You knew what you were doing," he growled. "As a hyena."

"Snow," Baz hummed in a slow, singsong voice. Still not looking up. "You're going to have to be a little more... specific."

Of course. Baz was going to be difficult.

"You know what I'm talking about," Simon snapped, taking a step forward. "You remember, Professor Psych said you would."

"Hmm, yes. Let's all trust him now," Baz muttered. He was still fiddling with something and hadn't even glanced up. "And, I remember attempting to kill you in front of everybody."

"You couldn't have done anything you didn't want to." Simon wasn't in the mood for Baz's nonsense.

"If you're trying to assure me that I didn't kill anyone, I am a vampire, so that's not very comforting." He paused again. "And besides, you don't know that's true. Penelope gave me these marks, after all." He pointed to his face, even though Simon couldn't see it.

He snorted. "That only makes it more clear. Of course, Penelope wanted to smack you. You deserved it."

Baz chuckled. "Just like you deserved to be killed in front of everybody?"

Simon balled his hands into fists and gritted his teeth. "You know what you did, Baz."

"I really don't, Snow." Baz stood and turned to face him, his gray eyes glittering a challenge. The slashes across his face were already healing but they looked pretty fierce. "So do tell me.." He took a step forward. "What _exactly_ did I do."

It wasn't a question. Simon knew it wasn't. It was a game. Something Baz knew he'd win in the end. Well, Simon wasn't having it.

Baz was taller again. Gray eyes narrowed, perfect black eyebrows arching toward each other, a small, triumphant smirk on his face. Baz really did look like a villain. A villain who was watching his plan work smoothly.

But if Baz was the villain, then Simon was the hero. And the hero always foiled the villain's evil plans. At least…. that was the case in stories.

"Fine," Simon growled. "It started with me waking up on a bed. Then I looked around and saw you, standing across the room. You were taking your clothes off and-"

"I did nothing of the sort!" Baz shrieked in horror and then realization dawned on his pale face and he glared at Simon with a hateful passion. "Bloody git!"

Simon grinned darkly. "You played right into that."

"Yeah, well..." Baz floundered around for a second. Waving his hands as if doing some kind of sign-language for fish. "Well, you-you got hard first!"

It was Simon's turn to glare. "That has nothing-"

"Oh, doesn't it," Baz snarled, crossing his arms and looking away.

Simon scoffed. "I really can't believe you!" He waved his arms around in the air. "No matter what happens, you always manage to pin it on me!"

"You deserve to be pinned." As soon as Baz said it he winced.

"Wow, Pitch," Simon growled. "Nice wording."

Baz snorted and stalked across the room to his bed and sitting down with a soft _thump!_ "It's always about you," he muttered. "No matter what happens. It's always 'Simon Snow this' and 'Simon Snow that' 'Simon Snow saved the school from a pack of angry hyenas!' 'Simon Snow will defeat the Humdrum and save the world!' 'What would any of us do without Simon Snow?'"

Simon watched as Baz sighed and stared out the window.

"It's never anything else like 'Simon Snow failed Dream Reading class' or anything like that. They never point out the bad things about 'Simon Snow'! Nope. He's just so _perfect_!" Baz said bitterly. "I'm just doing what no one else will. Pointing out your problems instead of your perfectness."

"I'm... not perfect," Simon mumbled. "Or... I don't try to be."

Baz laughed joylessly. "Are any of us trying to be how people see us?"

And then they looked at each other. Locking eyes for a moment before Baz was looking away again.

"I mean, yeah. At one point, maybe I _did_ want to be the bad guy... But that doesn't mean..." He sighed. Resting his head against the wall and closing his eyes.

Did Baz really want attention _that_ badly? Simon didn't feel like that was what Baz wanted. More like... credit? Yeah. Baz wanted more credit. Although, he probably wouldn't complain if he got a bit more attention, too.

Simon slowly crossed the room and sat down next to Baz. He saw one of Baz's eyes flick open for a moment and then close again.

His mind went back to the argument they had just been having. Simon wasn't really sure what he had come in to do. What was he trying to get Baz to say?

They sighed in unison and Simon almost wanted to laugh. Almost. He'd heard too much laughing for one day.

Baz looked like he was fighting tears. Simon understood. He felt like crying whenever he got overly frustrated. But of course he couldn't, being the hero and all, he wasn't supposed to cry out of frustration.

Baz shoved his palms into his eyes and dug his fingers into his forehead to hide his face, sighing heavily.

"Sorry for trying to kill you," he mumbled. "And for… what I did… to you. Or tried to do."

Simon watched him for a moment. "It's alright, I guess."

"No. It's not." Baz moved his hands and looked Simon in the eyes. "That was wrong of me, and I know it. So I'm sorry."

Baz shouldn't have been apologizing. Well, okay maybe he _should_ have but Simon suddenly didn't want him to.

"I think… I think I should probably tell you something," Baz went on, almost too quietly for Simon to hear.

"Okay." Simon cocked an eyebrow in confusion. Baz never told him _anything_ , why change that now?

Baz just sat there. Biting his lip and darting his gray eyes around the room.

"Okay listen," he said and started talking incredibly fast. Simon could barely keep up. "I know that you hate me and that I'm a vampire and that we've been enemies for such a long time now, that it's almost weird to try and get along but-" He broke off and took a deep breath before puffing out. "But, Simon. I _really_ like you."

There was a long moment of silence. Simon stared blankly at him. Was this some kind of joke? It had to be.

"You do?" His voice came out as barely a whisper.

A loud, nervous swallow was his only answer.

 _Oh Baz,_ he thought. _Do you have any idea-_

He grabbed Baz's face and pulled it closer. Holding it less than an inch from his own.

"You _do_!?"

Baz's eyes were huge but he nodded and murmured. "Yeah."

Simon couldn't hold back anymore. He closed the distance between them and kissed him.

He felt Baz stiffen as he placed one of his hands on Baz's face. Softly tracing his jaw bone to Baz's neck.

Simon was lost. Baz's smell. His taste. The way his skin felt. It was more than anything Simon could ever have imagined.

Suddenly Baz jumped back and stared at Simon with wide eyes.

"Why'd you-"

 _No! Don't talk,_ Simon thought and softly touched Baz's mouth to stop him.

"Because, Baz," he whispered, "this time it's about you."

* * *

 _A/N: Well... that was fun. I really ship them and wish I had added more Simon/Baz stuff to the story. But it's okay, I'm doing more on their romance stuff in the next story that I'm doing. I will share the name of the next story in last chapter, which should be up the day after tomorrow. Hope you all enjoyed!_


	5. Chapter 5

_A/N: Okay, here's the last chapter. I really had fun writing this story and hope you had fun reading it. I'd like to personally thank TheBrokenMinor for sticking with me this whole time, it really helps to have someone telling me that they like my story, considering that this is my first fanfiction to be posted._

 _I also want to thank Potter's Agents of Castle for their amazing review the other day, that made me so happy!_

 _So yeah, basically, thank you all for reading and reviewing! I love you guys! The authors note at the end will tell you the name of my next story if you want to check it out._

* * *

"So... You _are_ sure about this, Snow. You want to do it?"

"Yes. I'm sure."

"I don't want you to be nervous or anything."

"I'm not. _Really_. Quit worrying about me!"

"But-"

"Seriously, I'm ready."

"You sure? 'Cause I don't-"

"I'm ready, Baz. I know I am. Hit me with your best shot."

"Alright." Baz sighed. "I dare you to curse Agatha with _Scaly_ _Skin_ when she comes back from the bathroom!"

Penelope gasped but Simon could see her smiling through the hand covering her mouth.

"Oh, come on!" Simon complained. "Really, Baz?"

Baz smirked smugly. "It's a _dare_ , Snow. You _have_ to do it."

"But-"

"It _was_ a dare, Simon," Penelope sighed. "And you told him to 'hit you with his best shot' it's only fair that you do your part."

They were all sitting on the floor in Baz and Simon's room, playing Truth or Dare. It had only been a day since the whole thing with the hyenas.

"Alright, but she's not gonna like it." Simon hung his head and groaned, rubbing his temples. "Do me a favor, Penny? Make sure they write that my evil roommate was the cause of death, on my gravestone."

"Will do," said Penelope, patting his arm comfortingly.

Baz snorted. "Oh boo hoo, you love me for it."

It was meant as a joke. And Penelope and Agatha would certainly have thought that. But Baz meant it on a whole other level and Simon understood.

"I do. But that doesn't mean I won't take you to the grave with me," Simon declared. "Now, I'm going to take my turn before Agatha gets here. Baz, truth or dare?"

Baz was slowly, unpeeling an apple and he paused to stick a piece in his mouth and chew thoughtfully.

"Truth," he said at last.

Simon thought for a moment. "Alright... Have you ever wanted to bite me?"

To Penelope that would sound like some weird question, but to Baz...

"Nope."

Simon blinked in surprise. "Really?"

Baz shrugged. "You'd taste horrible, anyway. So, nope. Not before I was a hyena, anyway."

Simon gave him a long look, he then shrugged and looked away.

Suddenly, Baz sighed. "Where is Agatha? I need to see my dare come to life! I'm gonna go check the hall, see if she's dawdling around. Be back in a moment."

He stood and walked out of their room, slipping out the door and closing it again with a soft _click!_

Penelope chuckled. "So... when are you gonna tell Agatha that you and Baz are going out?"

"I don't know," Simon sighed. "Me and Baz haven't really- wait. How did you know about that!?"

Penelope laughed. A sound that was still a little too much like a hyena for Simon's liking.

The door opened and Baz and Agatha came back in.

"Found her," Baz said and sat back down, a few feet from Simon. Their knees brushing.

Agatha sat down on the floor of their room, next to Penelope and smiled at Simon. Apparently his nervousness was clear on his face because she asked. "Something wrong, Simon?"

"Of course not," he sighed. "We're all _Scaly_ _Skin_ here."

Agatha's skin turned green and scaly looking, like a snake. Agatha hated snakes.

"Um.. That doesn't make any sense, Simon," she said slowly.

Penelope and Baz were covering their mouths as they tried not to laugh and Agatha gave them a weird look.

"Are you guys-"

She saw her hand and screamed, the sound bouncing off the walls and making Simon cover his ears.

Then, Agatha figured out what Simon had done and lunged at him. He yelped and rolled into a protective ball to try and save himself as Agatha hit him over and over again.

"It was a dare! I swear!" he yelled. "I had no choice! Baz dared me!"

"I don't care!" she snarled. "Just do the counter curse!"

Penelope and Baz burst out laughing. Simon was still disturbed that they still sounded a bit like hyenas.

Simon rolled away from her. "Okay! Okay! _Beauty is only skin deep! Beauty is only skin deep!_ "

Agatha went back to normal and she sat down with a huff. "I can't believe you two!" she glared at Simon and Baz. "I'm not playing anymore! I've had enough of this!" She stood to leave.

"Come on, Penelope."

"We _should_ get going," said Penny. "We have a test tomorrow. See you guys later!"

"Alright, bye," said Simon, watching as the girls grabbed their things and left. "I told you she wouldn't like it."

"I know," said Baz. "That's why I dared you to do it." He rubbed his hands together evilly.

Simon rolled his eyes and they got up to sit on his bed.

"Did you mean what you said?" Simon mumbled. "About never wanting to bite me?"

Baz looked at him. "I don't cheat Truth or Dare, Snow. This may be a shock to you, but my family is very serious about that game. If I cheated, my father would send the devil after me to drag me down to hell, where I would burn for eternity in the deepest pit of lava they can find. I'm not exaggerating."

Simon raised his eyebrows.

"Okay. Maybe a little bit." Baz stretched and shot Simon smirk. "But yeah. I was telling the truth. I would never think of biting you... Simon."

"You are so over dramatic," Simon chuckled with a huge grin on his face at hearing Baz call him Simon when he wasn't trying to lure him into a trap.

Baz's smirk grew. "You love me for it, Applecheeks," he growled and kissed Simon's cheek. Or, he would have if Simon hadn't turned his head at the last minute and captured his lips instead.

It was sweet and passionate. He could feel Baz smiling as Simon gently pulled him closer and sighed happily.

 _Yes,_ thought Simon _. Yes, I really do…._

THE END.

* * *

 _Well, that's the last chapter. Whoa, is this what it's like to finish something? My next story will be called **A Severe Case of Vampirism** but it's not up quite yet. I need my beta readers to finish going over the first part, yes, it is a two parter._

 _Speaking of... Sadly I won't be posting it this week because I have to go to girl's camp and they don't allow electronics. But don't worry, as soon as I get back, I PROMISE that I will start posting again as soon as I get back._

 _Also, I wanted to ask you all something. Do you guys want me to write a story about Simon and Baz's kids? I've got this idea going on in my head and I can't decide if I should write it or not. Please tell me what you think in the reviews, I'm interested to find out what you guys think._

 _Thank you all for reading this story and reviewing! It made the whole thing a lot better knowing you all enjoyed it! I hope to see you all again soon in my next story._

 _See you all soon!_

 _\- Magiwren._


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